Melbourne, what a week!

 Theres been protests about construction workers being told to vaccinate.

Then there was the earthquake, it was a 5.9 and east of Melbourne but there were some buildings damaged in the CBD. 

Weekend was topped off by a seige. This so far hasnt been on the news but was two houses away from Rob's house in East Melbourne. The street was blocked off with several police, a couple of ambulances, riot police. Gas masks were used at one point and guns were drawn.

Melbourne did win the AFL grand final on Saturday night after a drought of 57 years.

A miracle

 Yep, witnessed an ongoing miracle.

I have coffee in the park with three friends each week. We used to go to a cafe each month and then boom! Covid!

Zoom catchups which evolved into weekly coffee mornings, where we can social distance and stay as long as we like. 

Our venues have changed a little over the last fifteen months dependant on the weather. Discovered a part of the park that gets very little use, shady trees a car prk and even a covered patio type building if needed. Contractors were completing a toilet block as well. What more could one ask for?

The toilet block was finished about eight weeks ago, very nice looking build, three cubicles, one is wheelchair friendly now to the miracle.

These are the pictures on the outside of the toilet, two sides and back, I have only taken two of them. The pictures are scenes within the park. Miracle is that there has been no graffiti or tagging.

My C2C chevron

 Well, its done,  took me twelve days.

To get the look I wanted, I had to do it in four panels and turn every second one over. It was a breeze to sew up.

As I was doing it by blocks, I didn't know how big it would end up. It measures 120 by 135 cms.

I used mill ends from spotlight and although they are supposed to be 8 ply, each colour had a different weight to it. The white was quite thick and I only did two stitches instead if three for each block, took all five balls of white three of the purple and one and a half of the teal. I was going to put a teal border around it but the deadline was Sept 15 so I ran out of time to do that.

Check ins

 After several weeks of checking in using the covid app, it has become rather common place.

With our last lock down which I think was in July, more restrictions came into play which included checking in at many more places.

If we go to a shopping centre, then its check in at the entrance and then each and every store that is entered. 

However I was rather surprised this morning when visiting a small township up from our place. We had been in the park and then walked further up the street still in parklands and I saw a toilet block. As we were going to go home for at least an hour, I thought that I might as well use it.

There were two cubicles and as I went to enter one, I noticed on the door a check in app.

Surely not! In a toilet! I read the sign and yep sure enough, it stated that it was the Smith Street rest area facilities so got my phone out and checked in. Reminded me of my Dad grumbling about filling in the census form, saying that soon government would want to know how many times one had a sh....

Outside of the block

Picnic in the park.

 I wanted to go out somewhere the other day but didnt want to go too far. A picnic was the answer. I had made pasties a couple of weeks ago, the pastry and mixture meant 20 pasties so there are a fair few in the freezer. 

Pasties heated in microwave and wrapped in foil, a nut bar, some cheese and biscuits and a coffee in a travel mugs and we were away. Of course we couldnt forget Lucy so we took her travel water and a couple of biscuit bones for her. She got a piece of our pasties as well. 

  Think this ducks parent had been playing around, not a normal coloured duck.

These cockatoos were in the trees just above us, we made sure that they were hanging about in front of us, had enough milk in our coffee, didnt need any more white, courtesy 

 of birds.

The pea hens were out in force too.

A large water dragon cut across our path.

Dessert!

 Strawberries at the moment are at their peak. They are also very cheap, I am assuming because there was no Ekka this year. Strawberry sundaes are the thing to have at the Ekka, little bit like strawberries and cream as Wimbledon.

Usually I hull the strawberries and cut them up but the football was about to start and of course I dont like to miss any of the football.

Strawberries were a dollar, I had bought some cream, whoops no vanilla but there was a shaker of cinnamon sugar in the cupboard. Interesting taste and the whipped cream was darker and I sat down just as the ball was bounced.

My latest blanket

 Its another c2c, this is where I tried to make it rectangle. At first it was a fail so I moved to make smaller squares of half and half.

Then I decided to sit in front of youtube and watch some tutorials. I like to watch Belka Coco,not her real name, she has several stitches that she shows on line for free.

She has a nice voice to listen to and seems to explain things very well. I watched twice then sat down and got on with it. Its easier if one end has a marker or even a piece of contrasting wool which indicates where to stop increasing.

I did both sides continuing c2c.

Spring time

 The weather is a little warmer and the days are getting longer. Trees are flowering, yep, spring!

Bottle tree, a little one.

Then a very old big bottle tree.

I had to go out to the road side to take the photo, would love to know how old it is.

Horse racing

 We took Lucy for a walk at the local showgrounds and race track. They have a yearly race meeting in January and around the back were the barriers. I have only seen them on TV before so it was interesting to get up close and personal.

The front of them, two gates held in a V, a pin comes from the top and is released from one end.

The back of them again with two gates to hold the horses in.

Not a great deal of room to move in there, thats for sure.

Country driving

 I love seeing big murals in country towns.

One side of a toilet block.

Morning tea, we sat outside as Lucy was with us. I checked in and was told to take a table and someone would come out with menus, she also arrived with a bottle of cold water and two glasses. Lucy had her own water.

Warren went fir the chocolate cake, I love melting moments, have tried to make them so I order with I see them. I had the choice of passionfruit or coffee.  I went for the coffee, it was yum. We were too early for lunch so that means a return trip.

Opp shopping

 I hadnt been opp shop shopping for awhile so I dropped the other day. To my disappointment there was no wool so I wandered over to where the books and crafts things are kept.

They had moved the wool and fabric to that area. 

I do have plenty of wool but I dont like starting a new ball if I only want a little bit so opp shop wool comes in handy.

This was my haul, three bags of small balls plus the two in the front, the five bags cost me $11. I have collected some drink rings with the idea of making small Christmas wreaths. The right colour of green was in one of the bags so l have already crochet around them. I have a couple of small Christmas gifts to send away so these will be a good start.

A petrol stop.

 Petrol was a bit cheaper the other day and as we had a trip coming up, we decided to go for coffee. 

The menu got to us and rather than just coffee, we ordered a share plate plus coffee.

Yum, sweet potato chips, calamari, olives, rocket (blergh), haloumi, crisp breads, chutney and pesto. Just a nice amount.